These trials came from the hand of the God who had promised to bless them: And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. Geocoding If we are a child of God, we know His eternal plan allows only those things into our lives which result in our ultimate and eternal good: And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, in order that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. One only needs enough faith to be confident God hears and answers our prayers as we desire. We must see that in the midst of our suffering, we are drawn nearer to God, and recognize this as true blessing. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.. Labs Routinely, such letters go in the trash without my even opening them. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Death turned earthly, external appearances upside-down. Eternal blessings are full and complete, the enjoyment of physical and material prosperity, the full manifestation of Gods goodness and glory, and the absence of sin, Satan, death, and the curse. This child was not merely an adopted heir, but Abrahams own son (Genesis 15:1-6). - THANKSGIVING FOR THEIR DIVINE ORDINATION TO THE BLESSINGS OF GRACE. The Jews of old and many Christians and others today think of Gods blessings in terms of the immediate enjoyment of physical and material pleasures and the absence of pain. In the early days of Davids life, he was misunderstood and chided by his brothers (1 Samuel 17:20-30). Y (6) The Jews concluded those who prospered were pious (spiritual, righteous), while those who suffered were sinners. But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. Devotions for Growing Christians Spiritual Blessings Ephesians 1:3 - "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." Read Ephesians 1:3-14. Ephesians 1:3-14 Biblical blessings are often associated with protection and happiness. Job 1 and 2 Yet our prayers betray us. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. The first recorded promise of Abrahams son was made when Abraham was seventy-five years old (Genesis 12:4).98 Yet the child was not born to Abraham and Sarah until he was one-hundred years old (Genesis 21:5). The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:7-18). Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. 3) states summarily the ground of thanksgiving, expanding it with glowing fullness in vers. In Christ, we receive every blessing because He is worthy (see Ephesians 1; Revelation 5:9-14). I believe this text provides the key to understanding Gods blessings, especially their relationship to suffering and adversity. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Before one can receive . And is there knowledge with the Most High? Behold, these are the wicked; And always at ease, they have increased in wealth. F He makes me lie down in green pastures. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. Put all the billionaires together. God promised to bless Abraham and his offspring. What Does It Mean That There Is No One Holy Like God? They think of Gods blessings primarily in terms of that which is physical and material.102 They believe that because Christ has come, every promised blessing can be ours, now, if we but believe and ask for them in faith. If I had said, I will speak thus, Behold, I should have betrayed the generation of Thy children. Perhaps best of all, our suffering for Christs sake deepens our love for our Lord and our fellowship with Him: More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. He leads me beside still waters. They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth. Their identification with Jesus Christ had brought on them the reproach of Christ and the opposition and persecution of unbelieving Jews. Jesus turned the teaching of the Jews upside-down. Whether God in His goodness enables us to succeed, or whether His grace enables us to endure our suffering, let us realize that God is able to make use of suffering to produce blessings. Thus, his wait would have been more than twenty-five years. All things are yours.". Perhaps the most puzzling passage in the Old Testament concerning Gods blessings comes from the Book of Proverbs: It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it (Proverbs 10:22). The Lord will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the land and not surrender him to the desire of his foes." Psalm 41:1-2 (NIV) Let's take a close look at blessing from the bible: who blesses who, how we receive blessings, how we give blessings, physical versus spiritual blessings, and finally how the flow of blessing can influence our prayers. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. The writer may have meant that they were given promises, but they did not receive them. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.. Were on a mission to change that. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. (4) The Jews of Jesus day thought of Gods blessings not in terms of grace but in terms of works. But for Thy sake we are killed all day long; We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. To sum up, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil, or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing (1 Peter 3:8-9). Philippians 3:8-12 From later history, we know that because of Josephs ill-treatment by his brothers, he was enslaved in Egypt. A review of Jesus teaching about the kingdom of God and about the blessings of God explains why His teaching was found unacceptable by the Jews. In this glorious anthem, in which the apostle, tracing all to the Divine Fountain, enumerates the glorious privileges of the Church, and blesses God for them, he first (ver. One can imagine how shocked men were to hear Jesus teach about Gods blessing and cursing precisely opposite from their own view: And turning His gaze on His disciples, He began to say, Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. The Christian life should be lived out in the light of the superiority of Gods promised blessings in comparison to the blessings an ungodly world holds out to us (Hebrews 11:24-26). 102 This is not to say they do not believe in spiritual and eternal blessings, but only that their emphasis is on present material prosperity. But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling; My steps had almost slipped. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.. The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? When Jesus began to teach His disciples concerning His coming rejection, suffering, and death in Jerusalem, even His disciples reacted. So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God. The great nation was still one seed, Jacob. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Temporal blessings are those blessings which God bestows upon sinful men, living in a fallen world, flowing from His grace. There is a sense in which our suffering bears testimony to the end of sins dominion in our lives (1 Peter 4:1). Here are 20 BIble verses about God's blessing that show us how He blesses us materially and spiritually, and that Jesus Christ as our atonement for sin is the ultimate blessing God has given to all. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. So theres the principle. John 3:16. If you have not trusted in Gods promise of blessing in Jesus Christ, then you are under the curse of sin. They would do well to give more thought to the blessings of God as defined in Scripture. And he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. But just what has God promised to do for Abraham? Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord. 1. Not one of them received the promised blessing. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. As to the first, many will claim that God loves and forgives us all unconditionally. Some toyed with the thought of turning back into Judaism to escape persecution. (20) If Gods blessing cannot be equated with prosperity and ease, neither can it be said that His blessing is automatically associated with asceticism (denying ourselves of earthly pleasures). Later Judah and his brothers suffered much over their ill-treatment of Joseph (see Genesis 37-45). For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. (17) The blessings our Lord accomplished on the cross of Calvary will not all be poured out on men in this life. Why did your father, Josiah, reign so long? We begin to make decisions and to pursue a course of action which takes away the pain. Theres nothing like that in the New Testament. Compiled by The BibleStudyTools Staff Neither do we have basis for complaint if and when He withholds His blessings. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles.". (7) Divine blessing is based upon divine grace and not human merit or effort. The son was just the beginning. This false view of blessing justifies ones expectations of no pain and all pleasure in this life. The apostle John heard a voice from heaven saying, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord (Revelation 14:13). Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Gods temporal blessings are not inconsistent with suffering. It cuts across all ethnicities, all geographies, all politics, nationalities. Zechariah 8:13; 14:11 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. You cannot be richer than a Christian. Unlike many Israelites in the Old Testament, and most of the Jews of Jesus day, Abraham looked for a better blessing. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them (Hebrews 11:13-16).
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